TBP: Toyota Business Practice

Are you interested in practical problem-solving and continuous improvement methodologies? In this blog post, we explore the Toyota Business Practice (TBP) and its relationship with PDCA and A3 thinking. We also take a closer look at the 8 steps of TBP and how they can be mapped to an A3 document. Additionally, we discuss the problem-solving funnel and offer a deeper understanding of the 8 steps of TBP as written in Japanese. Finally, we provide insights into how TBP can be paired with the Toyota Kata approach, and suggest some resources for those who want to learn more about TBP. Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or just getting started with continuous improvement, you will find valuable information in this article.

We have been here before

The Toyota Business Practice is old wine in new bottles. Granted it’s very old, very good wine, but is nothing new. Peeling off the label will reveal the last decade’s under-appreciated but full-bodied PDCA brand of problem-solving. Perhaps we can say that TBP is a far more detailed and slightly more prescriptive way of practicing improvement than the simple PDCA cycle

Lately, many people have found the A3 label of problem-solving to be a refreshing take on PDCA. In essence, A3 thinking and Toyota Business Practice are the same. Both are adaptable within guidelines. But it’s all the same old PDCA wine. From a branding point of view, “the Toyota Way of Working” or “Toyota WOW” would have been cooler, but it was probably too close to Toyota Way itself.

What are the 8 Steps of the Toyota Business Process?

In any case, the 8 steps of the Toyota Business Process are:

1. Clarify the problem
2. Breakdown the problem
3. Set a target
4. Analyze the root cause
5. Develop countermeasures
6. See countermeasures through
7. Evaluate both results and process
8. Standardize successful processes

How Does Toyota Business Process Map to an A3 Format?

Here is how this process would map to an A3 document for the purpose of problem-solving, business planning, or making a proposal. This is in itself just a slight variant of the QC Storyline of TQC.

Follow this process and you inevitably have kaizen.

What is a Problem-Solving Funnel?

Here is a close-up of the classic problem-solving funnel. You can see how the first 5 steps or the Plan phase of the Toyota Business Process map to this funnel, with steps 6 – 8 being the Do, Check, Act portion of the PDCA cycle of continuous improvement.

A Deeper Understanding of the 8 Steps of TBP

The 8 steps of TBP written in Japanese are below, with my translations. There are some slight but interesting differences in nuance, and these always make me wonder how much loss results from the translation of Toyota principles, precepts, and philosophies.

For example, step 1 “Set a target” seems a bit loose, while Japanese contains the word “achieve” which plants the idea that targets are things that must be met. And step 4 is not “analyze” but “think through” or “think until you find” and step 8 in Japanese doesn’t talk about “standardize” (this being an implied part of the Toyota WOW) but instead stresses that the results must become “established” or “take hold”.

トヨタの仕事の仕方8ステップ (the 8 steps of the Toyota way of working)

1. 問題を明確にする (clarify the problem)
2. 問題をブレイクダウンする (breakdown the problem)
3. 達成目標を決める (set the target to be achieved)
4. 真因を考え抜く (think through to the true cause)
5. 対策を立てる (develop countermeasures)
6. 対策をやりぬく (follow through on the countermeasures)
7. 結果とプロセスを評価する (evaluate the result and the process)
8. 成果を定着させる (make sure the results take hold)

As a standard problem-solving process, it is excellent and widely applicable.

How to Pair TBP with Toyota Kata?

The Socratic teaching method and talk of “it takes 40 years to learn” at Toyota have given way to a more deliberate method of teaching this thinking process at Toyota, based on what I have seen. We could say the TBP is the result of the steps, clarify, breakdown, and so forth, applied to the teaching of PDCA.

Sometimes I think the genius of the Toyota approach is that this process is so simple, obvious, and offensive to the intelligence and self-worth of most senior executives and go-getters out there that they close the book and say, “That can’t be right. There must be more to it.” Most people won’t understand TBP or try it. You can’t really understand it until you try it. So it comes back to a question of packaging and motivation.

When this is the case, the Toyota Kata approach can be a good stepping stone toward TBP. The improvement kata and coaching kata are “patterns” in the form of guiding questions. They are designed to clarify the problem, set a target, propose a cause, test countermeasures, and evaluate results. When the structure and rigor of TBP are presenting an obstacle to action, Toyota Kata can be a good lighter-weight option for getting started.

Where Can I Learn More about Toyota Business Practice?

The book Extreme Toyota mentions TBP and has a few case studies and A3-type stories that follow this process, but not in great detail on the thinking and tools used. Managing to Learn by John Shook is also a good place to get a handle on the Toyota way of working. As of 2017, the best, most recent book delving into the Toyota Business Practice is The Toyota Engagement Equation by Tracey & Ernie Richardson. The authors share their decades of experience at Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky, and explain TBP in a relatable way. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

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